Keane happy to go it alone up front

It’s measure of the scale of the task facing Ireland against Spain and also a barometer of the do or die nature of the game for his team, that Giovanni Trapattoni took the highly unusual decision not to name his starting 11 at his eve of match press conference at the PGE Arena in Gdansk yesterday.

Jon Walters is believed to be at the centre of the manager’s deliberations, with Kevin Doyle likely to miss out if Trapattoni gives the nod to the Stoke City player as an extra body to both bolster midfield and back up Robbie Keane as the lone frontman in a 4-5-1 formation. Alternatively, one has the nagging suspicion that it wouldn’t be beyond the manager to throw an extra orthodox midfielder, like Paul Green or Darron Gibson, into the mix.

Keane all but confirmed he was set to start when he said: “If I do play as a lone striker, it’s something I’ve done plenty of times before. It’s different but I enjoy it. You have to play on the shoulder and get in behind defenders. And if the manager wants that from me, I’m happy to do that.”